Paradise Burning by Blair Bancroft Page A

herself down to the steaming river, only
to find nothing but masses of misted greenery, the steady thrum of
insects, and the usual disgustingly wide-awake birds. Close to the
dock where the mist was not so thick, the river was pock-marked by
ever-widening pools as fish sprang up through the dark water to
snatch their breakfasts. But not so much as a glimpse of a female
will-o-the-wisp with long blond hair.
    Mandy scowled at the pristine paradise around
her. Why the feeling of disappointment? For some inexplicable
reason she’d been trying to make a mystery out of nothing more than
an intrepid hiker.
    In a dress ?
    Mandy stuck to her vigil for nearly an hour,
experiencing an odd mix of reveling in this private Eden and
wondering if she’d gone stark, raving mad to be anywhere but in her
bed at sunrise. She also examined her underlying surge of
excitement, the call of a hunt so much more up close and personal
than sitting at her keyboard. Was this need to solve a mystery in
her genes? Or was she desperately seeking a distraction from a
different call of the wild? Named Peter.
    Did it matter? She felt . . . alive . She felt good. Whatever urge
had gotten her up in the cold predawn, she was doing the right
thing. She was certain of it.
    As the sun began to rise behind the
dense mass of greenery on the far side of the river, Mandy trudged
back to the RV, where she set about reading the instructions on the
brand new coffee bean grinder that had caught her eye at the
grocery store. Well, why not? If she was going to be independently
domestic, she might as well go all the way. Ten minutes later, when
she savored the first sip of coffee made from freshly ground beans,
she felt almost as much satisfaction as the day she’d completed
cooking school. Real coffee .
Maybe, one of these days, she’d manage to be a real
woman.
    If she hadn’t been so damned stubborn five
years ago . . .
    Whither thou goest . . .
    How could she have chosen AKA? But when Peter
declared his intention of abandoning his position as Heir Apparent
to the Armitage family business to wander the world, write books,
become an observer instead of a participant, it was as if he was
abandoning Mandy as well. The hurt was all-encompassing.
    Jeff’s and Eleanor’s shock had been
nothing compared to her own. So what if he had asked her to go with him, they couldn’t both
dessert their posts. Leave AKA without its two most brilliant
assets.
    But, dear God, the pain had nearly torn her
in two.
    And now Peter thought he could just waltz
back into her life . . .
    Peter . The man
radiated sex appeal like a Catherine wheel shooting sparks in all
directions. He was a lethal weapon. And knew it. There ought to be
a law . . .
    Maybe chocolate macadamia nut coffee would
strengthen her resistance. Mandy poured a second cup.
    She was free to explore this morning. Before
returning to his aerie to work, Peter had told her she needn’t come
in until eleven as he wanted her to accompany him to a luncheon
interview in the neighboring city of Manatee Bay. So . . . the land
beyond the river beckoned.
    On the RV’s small dining table Mandy spread
out the local map given to her by T&T Realty. Which confirmed
that the Calusa River was the end of civilization. In fact, the
elegant community of Golden Beach dwindled to near wilderness
several miles west of the river. To the east there was nothing at
all, except for the one small enclave of homes Peter had mentioned,
clustered together on the east bank several miles upriver from
Calusa Campground.
    Bending over the map, Mandy frowned. Finding
the bridge across the river on paper was one thing. To actually get
there, it looked as if she was going to have to negotiate a maze.
North, west, north, east, then south. Almost as if the rugged
individualists on the far side of the river had set up an obstacle
course to keep people out.
    In the end, the four-mile trip upriver took
nine miles to drive. Nine miles of flower nurseries, tree
nurseries,